Surprise Surge in House Prices – but should we get excited?

Halifax have revealed the latest house price index figures, giving the market the welcome boost it’s been waiting for!

Their latest report show a 1.5% rise in March, with a typical 3 bedroom house now costing £227,872. The increase is well above the meagre 0.2% growth that economists were predicting and is the biggest month-on-month rise since August 2016. Halifax also stated that prices in the first three months of 2018 were 2.7% higher than the previous year – certainly the spring in the property market that we weren’t expecting!

Is this the revival of the property market we’ve all been waiting for after a sluggish 2017? According to economists, we shouldn’t get too excited. Experts warned against predicting a continued revival based on Halifax’s figures.

Halifax Managing Director Russell Galley commented,
‘This lack of direction in the housing market is in stark contrast to the continuing strength of the UK jobs market. The unemployment rate is now the joint lowest since 1975 and in the three months to January there were 402,000 more people in work compared to a year earlier,’ he said.
‘In the coming months we expect price growth to remain close to our prediction of 3% despite the very positive factors of continuing low mortgage rates, great affordability levels and a robust labour market. The continuing shortage of properties for sale will also support price growth.’

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